The following is part of a series that explores museums dedicated to the well-known Korean contemporary artists that bear their name. --Ed. Driving through a winding road in Yanggu County in Gangwon Province, the Park Soo Keun Museum slowly comes into sight. Surrounded by granite, the museum lies low to the ground as if representing the humble personality of Korea’s representative modern artist Park Soo-keun. The granite pieces that surround the museum are familiar objects here as the

Arts & Design June 30, 2020

An artist presents two different ideas through the single exhibition “I Have No Idea, Because I Have No Idea,” which runs through Aug. 15 in Jongno, central Seoul. Insane Park borrowed the title from a popular internet meme. “The phrase is fundamentally ironic, and within that irony there is humor and a sense of vitality which has led to its mass consumption as a meme,” Park said. “I skim through memes and comments (on the internet) before going to bed,”

Arts & Design June 28, 2020

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) is hosting a special exhibition to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean War by looking at the memories of the war captured through artworks and contemplating the lessons learned from the war. The English title of the exhibition, “Unflattening,” derives from a novel by Nick Sousanis, and suggests that people should look back at the war from diverse perspectives. The Korean title can be translated into Englis

Arts & Design June 24, 2020

A painting album by Jeong Seon (1676~1759), an artist hailed as the Joseon-period master of landscape paintings, will be put on auction for the first time next month. Designated as Treasure No. 1796, the painting album of Haeak palgyeong and Songyu palhyeondo comprises 16 paintings by Jeong Seon -- eight scenes of Mt. Kumgang (Haeak palgyeong) located in today‘s North Korea and eight paintings depicting the eight Confucian scholars of China’s Song Dynasty (Songyu palhyeondo). The

Arts & Design June 24, 2020

The following is part of a series that explores museums dedicated to the well-known Korean contemporary artists that bear their name. --Ed. When Western culture started to flood Korea in the early 1900s, many Korean artists faced a crucial question: how to apply Western art in their paintings without Korea’s painting tradition losing its cultural identity. Born in 1904, Lee Ung-no was one of the artists who agonized over this question and successfully integrated the two different cultu

Arts & Design June 22, 2020

Gallery Hyundai, a major gallery in Korea, has unveiled the second part of the special exhibition that celebrates its 50th anniversary with a strong line-up of Korean experimental art. The second part of the exhibition which runs from June 12 to July 19 at the gallery in Jongno, central Seoul, features five artists of Korea’s experimental art -- Lee Seung-taek, Kwak Duck-jun, Park Hyun-ki, Lee Kun-yong and Lee Kang-so – who were active from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, expandi

Arts & Design June 20, 2020

South Korea is one of the few countries where ordinary people do not encounter refugee issues in their ordinary lives. Many people easily neglect the issues of how refugees around the world are desperately struggling to secure their lives -- although Koreans were once refugees during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Independent photographer Harry Chun, who is now based in Korea, reminds us of how refugees on the other sides of the world are striving during the most devastating moments in

Arts & Design June 17, 2020

The masterpiece “Gwanghwamun Arirang” created by internationally acclaimed artist Kang Ik-joong to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War was unveiled on Monday at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. The opening ceremony was attended by former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo; Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun; Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Sam-Duck; Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha; an

Arts & Design June 15, 2020

The following is part of a series that explores museums dedicated to Korea’s well-known contemporary artists that bear their name. --Ed. If you walk up Mudeungsan in Gwangju, you will encounter the Uijae Museum of Korean Art, which sits on the mountain slope and blends in harmoniously with the scenery.  The museum is dedicated to Huh Baek-lyun, the master of Korean literati painting who also went by the pseudonym Uijae. Huh is known as Korea’s last modern literati painter.&n

Arts & Design June 15, 2020

Seoul Auction will put eight artworks by internationally acclaimed South Korean artist Lee Ufan up for auction and unveil “On the Road,” by the late modern painter Park Soo-keun, at an upcoming auction. Their combined value is around 12 billion won ($99.7 million).　 The auction, which will be held Wednesday at Seoul Auction’s Gangnam Center in southern Seoul, will feature major works from Lee, including “From Point,” “From Line,” “With Winds&rdqu

Culture June 14, 2020

Showing tattoos in public has long been taboo in South Korea, where there are still many negative stereotypes about inked skin. In the past, tattoos were seen as gangster symbols. Also, the deeply rooted Confucian culture discouraged people from altering the bodies they received from their parents. While tattoos are part of a subculture in this conservative country, the art form has gradually gained mainstream attention in recent years as softer and more delicate designs began appearing on th

Culture June 13, 2020

French economist and futurologist Jacques Attali said “to act altruistically” is the only way to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in an interview conducted as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ “Insight Series” on the post-coronavirus era. “By protecting others, you can protect yourself. However, many people thought the opposite,” Attali said in an interview with Choi Jung-wha, professor of the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translati

Culture June 9, 2020

  The following is part of a series that explores museums dedicated to the well-known Korean contemporary artists that bear their name --Ed. On a hill covered with green grass, a light blue building greets visitors. The Chang Ucchin Museum of Art in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, is composed of triangles and rectangles. Its design reflects the artist’s lifelong philosophy: simplicity. “If my father were alive, he would have loved this place,” Chang Kyeong-soo, t

Arts & Design June 8, 2020

A 9-meter-tall installation work that resembles Cheomseongdae -- Korea’s oldest astronomical observatory used during the Silla Kingdom in the seventh century that sits at Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province -- has been situated in the heart of Seoul. The installation artwork named “Rebirth” was created by Han Won-suk, an installation artist and architect, in 2006. It had previously been displayed in the Cheonggye Stream area, Hana Bank’s headquarters in Seoul and the S

Arts & Design June 5, 2020

The Best Film prize at the 56th Grand Bell Awards -- South Korea’s major film festival, also known as Daejong Film Awards -- held at Grand Walker Hill Seoul on Wednesday went to Oscar-star “Parasite.” “It is a great honor to receive the Best Film award at the Daejong Film Awards at these difficult times,” said Kwak Sin-ae who heads the film’s production company, Barunson E&A, reading the acceptance speech on behalf of director Bong who is on long leave

Film June 3, 2020